​Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney has revealed the five senior players who led the Old Trafford dressing room during his long tenure with the club.

Rooney, who is the Red Devil‘s all-time leading goalscorer with 253 goals, spent 13 trophy-laden seasons with the Manchester club since joining on deadline day in August 2004, winning 15 domestic titles, including five Premier League trophies.

He also achieved European success in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and the 2017 Europa League, and insisted he was part of senior group of players that supervised the new signings to ensure they didn’t get carried away and disrupt the team’s values.

As quoted by ​The Mirror, when asked about players believing they were bigger than the club, on the Men In Blazers TV show (to be broadcast on NBCSN), Rooney said: “That would never be allowed to happen.

“The likes of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand myself – players who had Man Utd in them and wanted the best for that club – would never allow anyone to mess that up,” he added.

The 32-year-old also suggested that the senior players had the authority and gained the trust of the manager to oversee the new signings.

“We controlled the dressing room ourselves. Alex Ferguson didn’t really need to control that. The players had the trust of the manager to do that themselves.”

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​Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini has admitted he would welcome the return of Paul Pogba to the Italian club and has compared the Frenchman to sporting greats LeBron James and Usain Bolt. 

Chiellini and Pogba won four Serie A titles and two Italian Cups during their four years together in Turin between 2012 and 2016, before Pogba returned to Manchester United for then world-record fee of £89m.

​Pogba however has endured a mixed second spell at Old Trafford, while speculation mounts regarding his future at the club. Chiellini has now added fuel to the rumour fires by suggesting he’d relish the opportunity to play alongside the World Cup winner at ​Juventus once again. 

As quoted by ​The Mirror, he said: “Pogba? We’d gladly welcome him back. He is special. He was kissed by mother nature with talent, like LeBron James or [Usain] Bolt.”

Despite scoring two goals and two assists in eight ​Premier League games this season, Pogba has been criticised for being inconsistent in midfield, while ​United have made a stuttering start to their campaign, and are already seven points of the summit of the table. 

Chiellini however has defended his former teammate in the wake of criticism, believing that too much is expected of the 25-year-old individually. 

He continued: “He only has to become a bigger leader on the field, the moral abilities are there. But he is only 25 years old and there is too much responsibility for him.”

Juventus have made a perfect start in Serie A this season, winning all eight games so far as they look to win an eighth successive league title, and will face Pogba’s Manchester United when they meet in the Champions League on October 23. 

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​UEFA have fined Manchester United a total of £13,200 after the team arrived late to their Champions League match with Valencia, delaying the kick off as a result.

United did not arrive at Old Trafford until 7:15pm as a result of traffic in Manchester, so the start of the match was delayed to give their players a chance to sufficiently warm up. 

However, both United and Valencia were then late leaving their dressing rooms, forcing kick off to be delayed even further.

As reported by ​Sky Spo​rts, the late arrival and late kick off of the match was the reason behind the £13,200 fine.

Mourinho has previously spoken about the incident, insisting that Greater Manchester Police’s reluctance to order an escort for the team bus is to blame for his side’s lateness. 

He said, as quoted by the ​Manchester Evening News: “We left the hotel at six o’clock, hoping that 30 minutes would be enough. Which normally is but this time the police refused to do an escort so we come by ourselves. And we took from the Lowry Hotel, 75 minutes.

“And UEFA were nice, the referee was nice to allow us to start the game five minutes later because we at least need half an hour to be prepared but was not a problem with the club organisation.

“We anticipate everything that it could be dangerous, in the sense of arriving late but we were informed the police refused an escort.”

Valencia, who were staying in a hotel more than six miles away from the ground, managed to make it to Old Trafford on time, despite the heavy traffic around the city. The match itself ended 0-0, in what proved to be an easily-forgettable encounter. 

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